Taking a stand against plot holes, or: How the heck did Lester sneak back in to his hospital room?
TV and movie commentary: The “X-Men” saga and recent episodes of “Fargo,” “Hannibal” and “24: Live Another Day” have suffered from plot holes.
‘X-Men: Days of Future Past’ balances epic scope with character drama
Movie review: Just enjoy the ride and don’t think too hard about this timeline-jumping film.
‘Star Wars’ flashback: ‘The Black Fleet Crisis Book 2: Shield of Lies’ (1996) (Book review)
The first thing you’ll notice about “Shield of Lies” (1996), the second book in Michael P. Kube-McDowell’s “Black Fleet Crisis” trilogy, is that it’s split into three parts: Lando, Luke and Leia. This is a little intimidating, because although the jumping-back-and-forth-between-plots approach is in some ways a cheap way to retain reader interest, it’s also … well […]
‘Star Wars’ flashback: ‘The Black Fleet Crisis Book 1: Before the Storm’ (1996) (Book review)
Michael P. Kube-McDowell’s “Black Fleet Crisis” paperback trilogy, which starts with 1996’s “Before the Storm,” has so many common “Star Wars” elements that it blends in with other stories. There’s a missing fleet, which calls to mind the Katana Fleet from the Thrawn trilogy; there’s a previously unknown alien foe, which calls to mind “The Truce at […]
‘Neighbors’ starts summer comedy season with modest collection of chuckles (Movie review)
“Neighbors” modestly kicks off the summer comedy season with a lot of smiles and chuckles but not many belly laughs. Perhaps a reflection of the mainstreaming of the gross-out comedy genre in the last 15 years, it delivers humor centered around drugs, sex and vulgarity that won’t be surprising to anyone who has watched a blockbuster […]
‘Veronica Mars’ makes smooth transition to book form in ‘The Thousand Dollar Tan Line’ (Review)
Veronica Mars returns to her roots in more ways than one in her first novel, “The Thousand Dollar Tan Line,” continuing from the events of the movie, which hit DVD earlier this month. As we saw in the movie, she’s back in Neptune and determined to make a go of it as a full-time detective at Mars […]
‘Wish I Was Here’ and 9 other movies John wouldn’t mind seeing this summer (Commentary)
Here are 10 movies I wouldn’t mind seeing this summer (especially if they’re playing in the cheap theater), in order of release date:
‘Serenity’ soars, but are ‘Buffy’ and ‘Angel & Faith’ running out of ideas? (Comic book reviews)
This question has been creeping into the back of my mind throughout the “Buffy” franchise’s three seasons of official continuations from Dark Horse Comics, but it’s especially evident now, early in Season 10 of “Buffy” and “Angel & Faith”: Are these titles running out of good ideas?
Preston and Child intriguingly tap into Sherlock Holmes lore in ‘White Fire’ (Book review)
In their 13th Pendergast novel, “White Fire” (November 2013, hardcover), Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child indulge their love of Sherlock Holmes lore while also delivering what fans have come to expect – a tense and dense mystery in an evocative location.
John’s 10 favorite TV characters at the moment (Commentary)
The recent return of “24” further solidifies that this is an age of shock-value TV, where the body count of main characters is more valued than good character building. But TV’s reputation as a character medium isn’t dead yet. Here are 10 reasons why: